


Worth It

by Hustling_Rube93



Series: Stay [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dentistry, F/F, Feelings, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Older Woman/Younger Woman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22651699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hustling_Rube93/pseuds/Hustling_Rube93
Summary: Bellatrix sat in silence, absently trailing her middle finger around the rim of her mug, and wondering, for probably the thousandth time that afternoon, what had possessed her to willingly ask what exactly it was that Hermione’s parents did for a living.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Series: Stay [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574908
Comments: 7
Kudos: 218





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the ‘Stay’ verse. I own nothing. All mistakes are my own. Enjoy.

“Then, when the teeth have been correctly aligned, the braces are removed and the patient receives a retainer,” Hermione explained. 

Bellatrix sat in silence, absently trailing her middle finger around the rim of her mug, and wondering, for probably the thousandth time that afternoon, what had possessed her to willingly ask what exactly it was that Hermione’s parents did for a living. When Hermione had asked why she was so interested, she’d lied and told Hermione it was only because she wanted to laugh about all the silly, pointless things that Muggles did, and certainly not because she was curious! But Bellatrix was more than certain that Hermione knew her well enough by now to know that she was fibbing. 

Hermione had been rattling on about ortho-something for the last twenty minutes now. But all Bellatrix had been thinking about for almost ten of those minutes was how Tom Riddle had missed a golden opportunity to take a few pages out of the torture manual that was obviously part of a Muggle dentists syllabus. The procedures Hermione was describing to her, some in more depth than was strictly necessary, was making Bellatrix’s skin crawl. 

It was mid-April and they were sitting at the little iron table in Bellatrix’s back garden at her home in Hampstead. Well, it was their home now, she supposed - hers and Hermione’s. The young witch had slept over one night about a year ago and had never left since. 

Not that Bellatrix could blame her! Previously, she’d been staying at the Burrow and the very thought of sleeping in the Weasley’s home was making her feel more nauseous than the thought of gingivitis and gum abscesses was. 

It was pleasantly warm for April, every hue in the sunshine kissed garden burst into radiant colour. The tulips Hermione had planted in the beds at the bottom of the garden last November were now in bloom, the scent mingled with the sweet smell of the freesias that bobbed in their decorative planters along the wall under the kitchen window. Her nephew, Teddy, was frolicking happily on a blanket on the grass next to them, amusing himself by peeking round the edges of the blue pop up tunnel he was currently hiding in, and shouting “Boo!” at his collection of stuffed toys. 

But the brilliance of the day did little to distract Bellatrix’s mind from the horror stories that Hermione was telling her, and she couldn’t help her face from twisting into a grimace. She could have just asked Hermione to stop, changed the subject even, but she’d been the one to bring up the topic in the first place, and was too prideful to let on just how much the conversation was making her stomach churn. 

“Are you even listening to me, Bella?” Hermione huffed, but she was smiling. 

“Of course!” Bellatrix lied. “Something about a restrainer?”

Hermione snorted a laugh. “Retainer.”

“That’s what I meant.” Then Bellatrix sipped her coffee. The few mouthfuls that were left had went tepid, but she took a sip anyway in an attempt to hide another grimace behind her mug. “Sounds painful, whatever it is.”

“It was uncomfortable for a couple of days if I remember, but after that it didn’t bother me at all,” Hermione mused. 

Bellatrix nearly choked on her coffee, horrified. “Wait, you actually wore one of those contraptions!”

Hermione rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “See, I knew you weren’t listening. I told you I had braces when I was eleven.” Then she laughed a little. “I had buck teeth, and after the braces came off I needed to wear a retainer for six months.”

“But why?” Bellatrix blinked, shaking her head. She was completely baffled by the entire concept. 

“So my teeth maintained their new position and didn’t relapse back into the old one,” Hermione explained patiently. “You see, your teeth are usually soft after the braces are removed, and if you don’t wear a retainer, then they could be susceptible to movement.”

Bellatrix’s lip curled. 

“My retainer was acrylic,” Hermione went on, despite the disgusted look on Bellatrix’s face. ”It was moulded to my palate and it had a metal wire that covered the outside of my teeth so they didn’t lose their shape.”

“And here was me thinking a dick was the most unpleasant thing a girl could ever have in her gob,” Bellatrix said dryly. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t sound very nice, but it was worth it. By the time I went to Hogwarts I only needed to wear it at night.”

“You don’t wear it now though,” Bellatrix noted. 

“No, I’m sure you would’ve noticed by now.” Hermione smirked and Bellatrix knew then that her witch was enjoying making her squirm. It was a very Slytherin trait. Bellatrix didn’t know whether to feel pleased or disgruntled, but either way it was apparent the girl had spent way too much time around her. “I would’ve kept it in a little case in the bathroom if I did.”

“Indeed you would not!” Bellatrix held a hand up and covered her mouth delicately with the other. “I’m about to cough up my lunch.”

Hermione tutted playfully and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Bellatrix had never been particularly squeamish. In fact, during her old Death Eater days she’d seen her fair share of blood and gore, and hadn’t thought twice about severing a few limbs here and there with a well aimed Diffindo. But there was something about fillings and gum surgery, and now braces, that was literally setting her teeth on edge. 

A muscle under her eye twitched and she said, “I can’t fathom why your parents would want to do that for a living.”

“It’s a very respectable job in the Muggle world,” Hermione told her proudly. 

“It sounds absolutely barbaric,” Bellatrix sniffed, and took another sip of her coffee to try and wash away the vile taste that had suddenly appeared in her mouth. 

“It’s necessary,” Hermione told her, grinning broadly. “Muggle’s don’t have potions to keep their teeth healthy when things go wrong.”

Bellatrix just wrinkled her nose. “Remind me to thank Cissy the next time I see her then. She got me some horrid tasting toothpaste from the apothecary in Diagon after my acquittal.” She smiled, flashing her gleaming, straight teeth and one dimple in her left cheek that she knew Hermione found endearing. Then she joked, “Looks like my sister saved me a trip to visit your parents, hm? Salazar only knows what they would’ve did to me!”

“The state your teeth were in after prison probably would’ve given even my parents a run for their money,” Hermione pointed out. 

“Yes, well, prisoner hygiene wasn’t top of the warden’s to-do list,” Bellatrix said resentfully. 

“I think pliers and a set of dentures would’ve been your only option if you’d went to a Muggle dentist.”

Bellatrix looked at her and arched an elegant brow. She was intrigued again, but wasn’t sure if she should even dare ask. But after a long pause, curiosity got the better of her once more and she asked, “A set of what?”

“Dentures, they’re a device used to replace missing teeth.”

Bellatrix just stared at her, completely perplexed. 

“It’s a prosthetic—“

“A pros-what?”

“Prosthetic. Dentures are essentially false teeth. They fit snuggly over the gums and fill in any gaps. In your case, I think all of your teeth would’ve needed to be replaced. You can take false teeth out and put them back in again as you please.”

Bellatrix looked at her for a long moment then barked a laugh. Surely not. The girl was pulling her leg. How could someone take their teeth out and put them back in again? It was absurd. It was laughable. It was—

“Old people usually have false teeth,” Hermione informed her with an impish grin. “General wear and tear tends to—“

Bellatrix’s eyebrows shot up at that, and she sputtered, “What the fuck are you insinuating!”

“What the fuck!” Teddy parroted, loud enough that the neighbours probably would have heard if not for the privacy charms cast around the property. 

Bellatrix turned and scowled at her nephew as he peeked his head out of his tunnel to smile cheekily at her. 

“Teddy-kins, what has granny told you about repeating Aunty Bella’s swears?” Bellatrix scolded in a sing-song voice. 

She knew she couldn’t really be mad at him. He’d turned two just a week ago and mimicked absolutely everything. Bellatrix had lost count of all the lectures Andromeda had given her recently about her language. But old habits die hard and all that. 

“Swears bad,” he giggled and ducked back inside his tunnel.

“Andy won’t be happy,” Hermione said under her breath but her shoulders shook with silent laughter. “She’s only just managed to get him to stop saying bellend.”

Bellatrix snorted a laugh. To be fair, Andromeda had found that one funny. That particular comment had originally been in reference to their charming brother-in-law. They hadn’t bet on Teddy eavesdropping when he was supposed to be in bed though. 

“I just cannot comprehend why someone would want to put their fingers in someone else’s mouth for a living,” Bellatrix went on. “It’s beyond disgusting.”

“Me and mum were talking about this the other day, actually,” Hermione said thoughtfully, and Bellatrix knew by the way her amber eyes twinkled with mischief that she was going to say something she wouldn’t like. “She said when she was young, dentists didn’t even wear gloves, can you imagine?”

Bellatrix barely stopped herself from gagging and choked out, “I don’t bloody want to.”

“She said her dentist had big hairy fingers and—mph!“

“Enough!” Bellatrix growled and lunged to slap her hand over Hermione’s mouth, jostling the table so that coffee sloshed over the rims of their mugs.

Hermione’s tongue immediately darted out to playfully swipe across Bellatrix’s palm. The elder witch snatched her hand back like she’d been bitten and pulled a disgruntled face. 

“You’re nothing but a vulgar, little cow,” Bellatrix growled playfully. Then she gestured to the spilt coffee, “And look what you made me do.”

“Who, me?” Hermione fluttered her eyelashes innocently. 

“I don’t know how I’ve managed to put up with you for this long,” Bellatrix told her, spelling away the spilt coffee and grabbing their mugs. “Do you want a refill? Or do you want me to crack open some wine for naughty lunchtime drinks?”

“We’re supposed to be babysitting,” Hermione reminded her, but she was smiling.

Bellatrix glanced over her shoulder. Teddy was tearing up clumps of her lawn and feeding it to his stuffed Hippogriff. “One glass won’t hurt,” Bellatrix told her, knowing fine well it wouldn’t be one glass, but Andromeda would be coming to collect Teddy soon. Maybe she’d even join them for a glass or two. “He’s quite content wrecking my garden.”

“All right,” Hermione conceded, touching Bellatrix’s wrist in thanks.

Bellatrix stood and asked, “Red? White?”

“Either. Surprise me. And bring Teddy more juice.”

“I only like being told what to do when I’m naked,” Bellatrix purred flirtatiously. Colour streaked across Hermione’s cheeks and Bellatrix felt her stomach twist into a delicious knot. Then she had a sudden thought and huffed a laugh, “You’ll probably have a good laugh at my expense when you visit your parents next week, hm? False teeth, indeed.”

Hermione looked like she was going to say something, the look was so subtle, but Bellatrix caught it and faltered, one brow creeping up in question. “What is it?” she asked. 

Hermione shook her head and flashed a deceptively sweet smile. “Nothing—“ she started.

“No, you were going to say something,” Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. “Out with it.”

“Well...I was going to say that you could’ve had a laugh with us,” Hermione said playfully, but Bellatrix could clearly hear the undertone of caution she was trying to mask. “Only if you wanted to, that is,” she quickly added. 

Bellatrix felt a chill of dread shoot down her spine and fumbled a little with a mug when she nearly dropped it. They’d had this conversation several times already, each time Bellatrix had thought of a quick excuse, but this time Hermione had completely caught her off guard. After a long moment, Bellatrix put the mugs back down on the table and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

“Hermione, I...”

“Only if you wanted to,” Hermione repeated. 

Salazar, this was Bellatrix’s worst nightmare. But she supposed it couldn’t be avoided forever, after all she was Hermione’s...well, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was. But deep down Bellatrix knew it made perfect sense that at some point Hermione would want to introduce her to her parents. So why did the very thought make her feel so on edge? 

She and Hermione had been together for nearly 18 months now. Her sister had known from the very start; Hermione’s friends and family for the last year. They’d did well to keep it hidden from the press for so long too, but surprisingly the rest of the Wizarding World had lost interest in their personal life rather quickly after their scandalous affair had got its 15 minutes of fame. 

“I’ve told them all about you, as you know,” Hermione said gently. “And they ask after you all the time.” Bellatrix still wasn’t sure, and the expression on her face must have said as much because Hermione added, “They really are very keen to meet you. They keep asking me when you’re coming for dinner.”

“They know I’m a fifty year old woman, right?” 

Hermione laughed at that and pointed out, “You’re not fifty until next October.”

Bellatrix rolled her eyes in annoyance and crossed her arms. “You know what I mean,” she grumbled. 

Bellatrix knew how it looked. She was a middle-aged woman sleeping with a young witch more than half her age. In their world, large age differences weren’t uncommon, particularly amongst some Pureblood families, but she knew that Muggles could be funny about that sort of thing. And even though Hermione had told her that her parent’s asked after her often, Bellatrix was still suspicious. But she knew that if she was in Mrs. Granger’s shoes - what was her name again? Jennifer? Jean? - she could say with certainty that she wouldn’t be happy if her daughter told her she was sleeping with an older woman who may or may not have been in the throes of a midlife crisis.

Maybe that made her a hypocrite, but still, if the Granger’s weren’t as pleased with the situation as Hermione thought they were, then Bellatrix really wouldn’t blame them. 

She remembered being more than a little miffed the first time Hermione had came back from her usual fortnightly visit with her parent’s and said that she’d told them that she’d been seeing someone. Thinking back on that day, that conversation had been the catalyst for their first proper argument. At the time, she didn’t really know why it had riled her up so much, but later she’d realised that Hermione telling her parent’s about them made it all feel real. The realisation had scared her - the notion that, somewhere along the line, Hermione had come to mean more to her than Bellatrix ever thought she would have. 

Up until that point they had been enjoying one another, and were happy with the knowledge that it was only Andromeda (and most likely Narcissa) who knew about their secret trysts. But now, Bellatrix still wasn’t even entirely sure what they were to one another. Lover was too old fashioned and girlfriend sounded ridiculous at her age. All she knew for certain was that they were more than casual fuck buddies. So much more. 

They’d never felt the need to put a label on their relationship, but she also knew that, whatever this thing between them was, they were both in it for the long haul, and the moment Hermione’s friends and family were thrown into the mix, the dynamics shifted. 

But Hermione obviously knew her parent’s better than Bellatrix did, so she was happy to trust her judgement. She just didn’t know if she was prepared to meet them. 

Hermione’s amber gaze softened and she reached out to touch Bellatrix’s arm. Bellatrix was pretty sure the young witch could feel the tension her body was giving off in waves. 

“Don’t look so worried,” Hermione said reassuringly, but it made Bellatrix bristle all the same. 

“I’m not worried,” Bellatrix said, though her reply came too quick for it to sound true. 

But Hermione just gave her a tender, knowing gaze. “I’m a grown woman who makes her own choices. Mum and dad were a bit funny about it when I told them about us at first, but they weren’t long in coming round once I told them how wonderful you were.”

Bellatrix pursed her lips and tried to ignore the way her belly did a flip-flop at that, but said, “As long as they don’t think I twirled my moustache and stole your virginity.”

Hermione laughed loudly, “Hardly.” Then her jovial expression turned serious again. “Just think about it please, for me?”

Bellatrix hesitated for only a moment, then nodded stiffly, and her shoulders lost all their tension, even though she felt like an impending doom was lurking in the shadows. 

In an attempt to reassure Bellatrix, Hermione reached out with a slender hand, lacing their fingers together. Then Hermione flashed the warmest smile Bellatrix had ever seen and said, “They’ll love you.”

Bellatrix squeezed Hermione’s hand and made a show of schooling her features into an exaggerated display of self-importance and haughtily said, “Everybody loves me.”

It was the icebreaker they needed and Hermione smiled fondly up at Bellatrix, before tugging her down towards her and capturing her lips in a tender kiss. 

There was no denying their relationship had changed, and rather significantly at that. In the beginning Bellatrix had thought of it as nothing more than a bit of fun, something to take their minds off the changing world around them. 

But somewhere along the line their once tentative friendship had blossomed into something even Bellatrix couldn’t comprehend. Somewhere along the line a marriage of trust and mutual respect and understanding appeared out of nowhere and ploughed into them with all the force of a rogue bludger. Somewhere along the line Hermione had fallen in love with her, and despite the fact that they had never once said the words to one another, Bellatrix couldn’t deny the feelings she had for the young witch either. 

Yet Bellatrix couldn’t face the truth, not yet anyway, even though that truth flaunted itself before her every morning when she woke up in Hermione’s arms. She would forever be thankful that Hermione was so patient, but deep down Bellatrix knew it was probably time to get her act together and accompany Hermione to her parents house next weekend. 

When they pulled away, Bellatrix made the quick decision to leap into the breach before she lost her nerve and said, “We should take a bottle of wine to have with dinner next weekend. It’s only polite.”

The way Hermione’s whole face seemed to light up when she smiled was worth every bit of angst that currently plagued her. She supposed the hardest part of any relationship was admitting your feelings, and a few hours of awkwardness with these people who may or may not hate her would go a long way to giving Bellatrix the push she needed to admit to herself, and to Hermione, finally, what she had known deep down for months. Despite the turmoil churning in her gut, she tried to convince herself that it would be worth it. 

No, it would definitely be worth it. 

Hermione was worth everything. 

Bellatrix picked up their mugs again and leaned down to press another kiss to Hermione’s mouth, not so innocent this time, the barest hint of tongue had them both moaning softly against one another’s lips, until a raucous little giggle made them pull away. 

“What the fuck!” Teddy screeched. “Kissy!”

Bellatrix’s chest heaved with laughter and she shook her head, at the ridiculousness of the situation she found herself in, at her inability to admit her own feelings, and at the inevitable tongue lashing she was going to get from her sister. 

What the fuck, indeed.


End file.
